This Item Has Been Sold
STEP BY STEP
-Signed First English Edition Presentation Copy Inscribed to Sarah Churchill “From Papa”-
1939
First English Edition
Thornton Butterworth Ltd. [London]
Biblio: (Cohen A111.1.a) (Woods A45a)
8vo (365 pages, 2 maps, one folding, at rear)
Hardcover (without Dust Jacket) [Green cloth]
Item Number: 203681
Collector's Guide
Step by Step is a chilling anthology of Churchill’s prescient newspaper pieces about the rising Nazi threat, written for the Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph, commencing in 1936 with Hitler’s reoccupation of the Rhineland, through the final months before the declaration of war in 1939.
Description
Nothing in the realm of Churchillian first editions is more precious than a book inscribed by Winston Churchill to a member of his immediate family. Here is one such prize, a copy of the First English Edition, inscribed, dated and signed in ink by Winston Churchill to his daughter: ”To Sarah, from Papa, June 1939” — the month of publication.
The book is in very good condition. The green cloth is just faintly scuffed and age-darkened, with spots of discoloration along the spine. The binding is tight, the corners are sharp, if just a touch turned, the gilt lettering remains bright. The contents are fine and unfoxed.
SARAH CHURCHILL (1914-1982) was the second daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill, named after Sir Winston’s ancestor, the notorious Sarah, First Duchess of Marlborough. She pursued a career as an actress and dancer that brought her some measure of success and acclaim (including an appearance dancing and singing with Fred Astaire, as the costar of “Royal Wedding” in 1951). Yet she tussled rebelliously and repeatedly with her parents over her choices, particularly in husbands. During World War II, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and served actively in photo reconnaissance for Operation Torch, the 1942 invasion of North Africa. She also accompanied her father often on his wartime journeys, including, most auspiciously, to the Teheran conference in 1943. Her wartime experiences in his company lend this particular inscribed volume a special poignancy.